the unclean animal

Three meals in a span of 2 1/2 days eating pork, plus the ham that was forced upon me to take home. I prefer the old fashioned processed ham to the wild boar or whatever my dad made. I'm not sure if he hunted that thing down himself, but it tasted weird.

Oh, what a lovely holiday I had, the best part was the time spent sleeping, oh glorious sleep, how I've missed thee. I had a few short hours with Romaine, Phil and the kids before they left for New York, watched my mother gush over the baby, who is of course "the prettiest baby she's ever seen" at least since the last time one of my sister's gave birth. Does anyone else start to feel like kids become sorta generic? Not to sound void of human attachment, I'll try to explain...you are with your family or friends and small children are present in varying ages and stages of development. Though children obviously develop differently and at differing paces, they basically all go through similar stages, each stage having its own endearing cuteness. Everyone observes the children doing cute things, everyone laughs and talks all cutesy, this cycle continues on and on, never seeming to end. I mean, I realize all kids have distinct personalities, but at some point it kinda all blends together, especially when there are a lot of them around, or maybe that's just me, not that I don't appreciate the cuteness and join in on the laughter as well, or enjoy the individuality of the small ones.

Anyways, just some random thoughts. I'd say the best quote of the weekend came from Doug, my mom's on again, off again beau, a struggling alcoholic, and a decent and entertaining man at least when he's sober, who often has random bits of wisdom to share. He does plastering and other construction type work for a living so I asked him if he had any projects outside of adding a sunroom onto my mom's house. His reply was, "nope, just here, and the one in my brain" well said Dougie, well said.

Other highlights included the random goat, the unexpected presence of my brother, stepmother Barb's use of the word "necking", and the gift of a fine french easel, given to me by my pa. I guess I have one less excuse for continuing to be a lame artist.

I also came home pleasantly surprised to find that the cats had behaved themselves while I was gone. In trying to positively reinforce Lucy's good behavior, I made sure to tell her how proud I am of her for being a good kitty.